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SAN FRANCISCO-Potentially therapeutic concentrations of ZD1839 (Iressa) inhibit phosphorylation in HER2-overexpressing breast tumor cell lines that coexpress HER1, Stacy Moulder, MD, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, said at the 37th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

TAMPA, Florida-A rehabilitation group program-Energy for Living With Cancer-has the ability to reduce fatigue-related distress and improve quality of life, according to program developer Sandra Holley, PhD, ARNP, a nurse scientist at the James A. Haley Veterans Administration Medical Center, Tampa. Dr. Holley presented her results in a poster session at the Oncology Nursing Society’s 26th Annual Congress.

HOUSTON-Cancer patients receiving aggressive treatment often face difficult decisions. Nurses will often help patients and their families through them-but the nurses may need support themselves, says a nurse who co-authored a study looking at nurse utilization of hospital ethics rounds.

PITTSBURGH-Two recent reports by the Health Resources and Services Administration spotlight a difficult situation in health care today, both for providers and patients. The agency’s 2000 "National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses" found a significant decline in the rate of increase for people entering nursing-from 14.2% between 1992 and 1996, to 4.1% between 1996 and 2000-at a time of greater population growth and aging.

INDIANAPOLIS-Transplant patients may maintain a central line for 6 months to a year. At high risk for infection, they must know how to take care of their line. But when do they learn? Teachable moments can be few and far between, according to Indiana University Hospital nurses who made a video to help solve the problem.

WASHINGTON-The tobacco wars continue in the nation’s capital. The Bush Administration has announced it will seek a settlement of the federal lawsuit against the tobacco industry, initiated during the Clinton Administration to recover profits the industry made through alleged fraudulent practices.

AUSTIN, Texas-Although the nursing profession supports patient empowerment and self-determination in health care decision-making, patient requests for assisted dying raise difficult issues. A study reported at the Oncology Nursing Society’s 26th Annual Conference explored the symptom management strategies that some nurses use to either counter or preempt patient requests for help in dying.

WASHINGTON-Colorectal cancer patients with unresectable liver metastases responded better to a regimen of regional and systemic chemotherapy plus cytoreduction than to cytoreduction alone, said David Litvak, MD, of the John Wayne Cancer Institute, Santa Monica, and Century City Hospital, Los Angeles.

SAN DIEGO-Lead aprons, radiation badges, and patient laundry are not the normal concerns of nurses. But as new radioimmunotherapy agents are evaluated and introduced into practice, nurses will need to familiarize themselves with radiation safety precautions, said Patricia A. Kramer, RN, MSN, a San Francisco-based oncology nurse educator and consultant. Patient education and instruction throughout the whole process is key.

STONY BROOK, NY-The new Long Island Cancer Center at Stony Brook University is welcoming the community into a partnership in cancer research, John S. Kovach, MD, founding director of the Center, told ONI in an interview.

WASHINGTON-Witnesses at the first-ever Congressional hearing on hematologic cancers urged Congress to act on the recommendations of the Leukemia-Lymphoma-Myeloma Progress Review Group (LLM-PRG). This group, composed of more than 180 researchers, clinicians, patient advocates, industry representatives, and government officials, released its report last May.

BUFFALO, NY-A pain intensity assessment program undertaken at Roswell Park Cancer Institute has been successful in increasing staff assessment of pain and in promoting optimal pain management. Reporting at a poster session at the Oncology Nursing Society’s 26th Annual Congress, Jacqueline L. Massey, RN, MS, assistant director of nursing, described the development of the Center’s comprehensive program, known as the Fifth Vital Sign.

BUFFALO, NY-Former Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) faculty member J. Craig Venter, PhD, founder and president of Celera Genomics, returned to the Buffalo-based comprehensive cancer center to present the Institute’s Cori Lecture (see box).

SAN FRANCISCO-A highly sensitive photon sensor has shown promise as a means of detecting early, subtle responses to neoadjuvant therapy among patients with soft tissue sarcomas, investigators from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute reported at the 37th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

At Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, nurses are recruiting newly diagnosed cancer patients into a smoking cessation program. At Marshfield Clinic Cancer Care, Marshfield, Wisconsin, nurses are teaching phlebotomists how to do venous access device (VAD) blood draws. And at St. Joseph Medical Center, Towson, Maryland, nurses have made depression assessment part of standard oncology care.

SAN FRANCISCO-In a phase II trial, recombinant human keratinocyte growth factor (rHuKGF, or KGF) significantly reduced severe mucositis and improved quality of life for patients with hematologic malignancies who underwent autologous peripheral blood progenitor cell transplantation.

WASHINGTON-With a Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) visit looming, nurses at George Washington University Hospital used the opportunity to implement a staff education program to improve pain assessment and management.

SAN DIEGO, California-A symposium at the Oncology Nursing Society’s 26th Annual Congress addressed the challenges of managing cancer-related cognitive impairment, fatigue, and pain. Each of three speakers gave an overview of one of these problems, including contributing factors and current research, and then discussed new approaches to symptom management.